The Lexington Herald from Lexington, Kentucky • 29

Lexington Herald Lexington Ky Thursday November 11 1982 B3 Former Eastern quarterback making it big in Canada Houra after Eastern Kentucky Gene McLean Laxtngton HeraM tporti writar most successful quarterbacks Warren Moon and Condredge Holloway Isaac got his first start in the third game of the season On July 29 Ottawa played Montreal and Isaac threw for 471 yards and five touchdowns to set one team record and tie another That night Isaac won himself a Job Since then Isaac has completed 197 of 382 passes for 516 percent 3J02 yards and 18 touchdowns He's been Intercepted 17 times He's become one of the most talked about and promising rookies in the league "I guess you can say I've sup prised a lot of people but most of all I've surprised myself" said Isaac by phone from his Ottawa apartment "Coming out of the camp in Canton I just wanted to make the ball club I just wanted to be the third quarterback and run the scout team I would have been satisfied with that "But this has been a dream After a couple of weeks in camp I caught onto the system and the coaches started playing me Everything seemed to fall in place I'm very much pleased with how things have gone I really love it here" THE CANADIAN GAME loves Isaac too They are a perfect fit The Canadian game with its wider longer field and three downs rewards the quick option-type quarter back Isaac's game with his long legs quick moves and whippet-like arm rewards the Canadian game "I think my style is suited perfect for the game up here" said Isaac who has also rushed for 244 yards and one touchdown on just 41 carries "It took some getting used to Like the extra defensive back and just three downs But it's just right for a guy my size and quickness" Ottawa is just 5-11 this season but the Roughriders did make the playoffs and will meet Hamilton this Sunday at 1:30 pm in the first round Isaac is looking forward to it "I'm not pleased with the team's record but I think we're getting better I think we have a chance in the playoffs "I love it here I would have problems probably in the states because of my size I really want to stay up here" Canada probably wants to keep him too ONE PLAYER who will be glad when the NFL strike is over is former Eastern All-America safety and New York Jets rookie George Floyd During the strike Floyd has been staying in New York working out with several other players in his spare time and working with several other players full-time at get this hanging glass in skyscrapers "I don't like it too much" said Floyd "You get pretty high up sometimes It's a little scary up there It's not too much fun" It was recently reported that Eastern's Steve Bird had set the school record for most receptions in a career That's erroneous Bird a senior from Corbin has had a superb career He has now aej cumulated 82 receptions i Still Bird is nowhere near catching Eastern's all-time greatest receiver Aaron Marsh Marsh a former' standout with the old Boston Patriots" had 52 catches his junior year (1966) and 73 more his senior season (1967) and finished with an amazing 147 receptions for 2J46 yards TIDBITS: In basketball Eastern's Frank Balnes who was a part-time starter last year will miss the next three to four weeks of practice with a broken jaw that he sustained in practice He should be ready for the first game against Clinch Valley on Nov 27 So far the rages at East-: era's fall practices have been senior guard Jimmy Stepp freshman guard John DeCamillis and senior center Jim Chambers The top player in Morehead's fail practices has been 6-7( forward Earl Harrison a junior-cof-' lege transfer Eastern and head are hopeful of signing some players in the Nov 10-17 signing lost to Idaho State in the Pioneer Bowl last December quarterback Chris Isaac sat in a disco tai Wichita Falls Texas and watched as a horde of people slipped around the dance floor doing the Cotton-eye Joe He slowly sipped on a Pearl and the thoughts danced through his head as fast as those quick feet on the floor Thoughts about whether his days as a football player which had started when he was in grade school were over "I really was wondering then if I would ever get the chance to play football again" said Isaac "I mean you never know All of a sudden it's over And you're starting over again Football had meant a lot to me I didn't know if it was all over or not" It wasn't Last spring Isaac all 5-foot-lO and 160 pounds of him showed up at i'a Canadian Football' League try out camp in Canton Ohio With his own 'gear and his own football He got dressed went out on the field and started throwing with an- other prospect He threw for 30 minutes when a scout came up to him "He told me to quit throwing" said Isaac "He told me that he liked the way I threw the ball and he said he thought my style was suited for the way they play He offered me a contract and I signed Just like that" JUST LIKE THAT Chris Isaac's football life was saved Just like that he was an Ottawa Roughrider And that's pretty much the way his first professional season has gone Just like that Isaac started getting more snaps during practice He started to get a few minutes playing time at the end of the games He won the starting quarterback job Just like that Isaac was the top rookie in the' league's Eastern Division Out of the same mold as Canada's Unknown leader OSU's obscure Ernest Anderson leads Walker Dickerson and entire nation in rushing yardage Av I Vnv- AX 1 Vv "if 1 Tight wSrHflf i a Oklahoma State coach Jimmy Johnson made the decision to move Ernest Anderson to tailback Ntw York Tims Nmw Swvic STILLWATER Okla The leading rusher in college football is a little-known junior on a team that has a 2-4-2 record As a Texas schoolboy he was considered too small by most college recruiters One year ago he was 'primarily a blocking back on a team that was hard pressed to score Ernest Anderson the Oklahoma State tailback does not have the background physique or team to suggest that he would have entered the final weeks of the season with a better per-game yardage average than Eric Dickerson of Southern Methodist and Herschel Walker of Georgia But the 5-foot-lO-inch 185-pounder has averaged 1745 yards compared with 1579 for Dickerson and 157 for Walker Dickerson and Walker have played in nine games and have two left in the regular season Anderson has played in eight and has three remaining Anderson is the fourth player in National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ia- tion history to gain a total of 1000 yards in the first five games of the season He did it against North Texas State Tulsa Louisville Kansas and Colorado Marcus Allen and Ricky Bell of Southern California and Ed Marinaro of Cornell are the others Before he began threatening records Anderson was a nonentity outside the Big Eight Conference and relished his privacy But lately he has 'not had much time for a favorite pas-'tirne domino games with teammates in the athletic dormitory Much of his time is spent answering questions about how someone so obscure became so prolific and durable in one of the toughest conferences "Until this year I never got inter viewed" he said "All of a sudden I'm leading the nation and everybody wants to talk to me" Coach Jimmy Johnson said Anderson's improbable story would have been impossible 10 years ago before college coaches became enamored 'with weight training Anderson has above-average speed for a running back He has been consistently timed in the 40-yard dash in 46 seconds and occasionally in 45 -But his principal asset is strength which he owes to weight training He weighed only 168 when he re-- ported in 1979 as a freshman from Orange Tex He suffered a knee injury in the first game and spent the season 'in the weight room on a rehabilitation program He could bench-press 135 I pounds as a freshman Now he does 385 Many Oklahoma State linemen who outweigh him by 70 pounds do not I have his weight-lifting capacity His extraordinary strength and 'elusive running style allow Anderson to remain remarkably fit despite an -average of 30 carries a game In Oklahoma State's I-formation offense the fullback rarely carries I the ball There are few option plays and passing became increasingly con-- servative after a rash of early-season interceptions turned a season of high expectations into a nightmare In ad- ditkm Anderson runs behind an offen- sive line that though experienced is among the smallest in the conference Nevertheless he has gained 1396 yards in 246 carries for an average of 57 yards 5 After having been granted a hard- ship ruling that made him a freshman in football eligibility during his second season Anderson began to show his promise by gaining 438 yards in 1980 He was Impressive in the second half of 1981 678 yards including two 100- yard games and a 53-yard average after having switched from fullback to tailback He led the Cowboys to a sup prising third-place finish in the Big Eight and a bid to the Independence Bowl 'r This season he has thrived He ran 74 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage the opener against North Texas State and totaled 220 yards By the time he set a school record of 270 yards against Kansas in the fourth game he was a factor in the national rushing standings Yet even now Anderson is the subject of only reserved toasts in the Big Eight Nebraska's tailback Mike Rozier who is fifth nationally in rushing is widely considered the confer ence's best running back The others with higher recognition factors are Stanley Wilson the Oklahoma fullback Kerwin Bell the Kansas tailback and Roger Craig the Nebraska tailback Oklahoma's Coach Barry Switzer had called Anderson "a great back" But after the Sooners had held him to 59 yards on 20 carries (his previous low this season was 152 yards against Tulsa) Switzer said he did not think Anderson "could start for us" After five games with Anderson at fullback last season Oklahoma State was 3-2 and scoring more field goals than touchdowns Also the tailbacks around whom the offense was built were averaging only 3 yards a carry Anderson was averaging 5 in a role designed for blocking "I felt like I should have been playing tailback all along" he said "That's all I ever played in high school But I don't try to coach I did the best I could at and hoped I would be ready if they ever moved me to tailback" After he had been switched to tailback Oklahoma State averaged 23 points in its last four conference victories in 1961 He pined 139 yards against Kansas State and 111 against Oklahoma He scored a touchdown and ran the Cowboys to a quick 104 lead against Texas in the Independence Bowl When he left the game with a pulled hamstring Oklahoma State collapsed and the Aggies won 33-16 Frank Falks who coaches the Oklahoma State running backs said: "Ernest is incredibly tough But his style helps him He is not a straight-up runner' He seems to always be leaning away from the tackier and he has great feet They cant flush him out when they hit him" Anderson said: "I've' always thought the best way to keep from getting hurt is to try and hit the tack- -lers quicker and harder than they hit me I have a lot of -confidence in my strength I don't look very big and I know the other teams don't think I am as strong as I am That's an advantage" Bert Jacobson State's strength coach said: "Pound for pound Anderson is the strongest player we have ever had I wish some of our linemen could bench-press 385 pounds' Anderson said he wondered if he would have become as strong had he not been injured in his first game as a freshman "Hurting my knee was a blessing I think" he said "It caused me to get a headstart on weight training I was in the weight room all season while everyone else was on the field I never lifted in high school My coach tried to get me to but I ran away from it I didn't figure it would help' me" i His waist size has increased only from 32 to 33 inches But he has 23-inch thighs and wears extra-large coats "Ernest was a small back and not the kind you get excited about when he came here" Johnson said "Ten to 15 years ago this would have been impossible A back like Ernest might not have gotten any bigger than 180 and not much stronger Weight-training programs can do wonders" Anderson said: "I never thought I was too small in high school to play college ball" Part of that feeling he said was attributable to Joe Washington An all-America halfback at Oklahoma Washington was from Port Arthur only 11 miles from Orange on the Texas Gulf "When I was in junior high Washington visited our school and said size was not that important" Anderson said "I figured if Joe Washington was big enough I was too" But few recruiters agreed Johnson who had just been named coach at Oklahoma State after serving as an assistant to Jackie Sherrill at Pittsburgh was also from Port Arthur and knew the area produced unheralded but gifted prospects But he was mainly interested in Van Barnett Anderson's friend a defensive back His second choice at Orange was Greg Hill now a starting cornerback at Oklahoma State Anderson was the third choice But Anderson said "Oklahoma State made me feel wanted and said I wasn't too small" I I li a u-vrw a nnii II WINC CYNTHIANAl PARIS Othfl Ckitoinbpnv Stan Mgr A 29 Washington 140StMOMraVI CaniuryTira Court Sq Ph 2144140 Ph 163-5030 Ph 744-2S27 rn mu I Pfc B7421S LEXINGTON LEXINGTON Harry EK Km HN Start Mgr 8km Mgr 1101 Wktchartar 396 SouWand Dr Ph 2S6-6502 PWS7M458 RICHMOND FRANKFORT 529 UanXjtm I2051278oui Ph 123-3670 Ph 227-7311 MT STERLING EM Alton Tira HARROD8BURG MoQtona Tn Co 130 Nertti CMkM Si Ph 734-2301 PLENTY OF FREE PARKING DANVILLE Gardnar Co 1509 HowtomnM 42 MmmNni Ph4ta-igM PhZ3e-676Z DkM Hraotl.